Dr. Jim Kim: Switch Off TATA Mundra Power Plant

To World Bank’s president Dr Jim Kim:

Numerous environmental and policy violations were ignored by the World Bank when it funded a TATA Power coal plant in Mundra. Even the World Bank's ombudsman department has acknowledged this fact. The livelihood of thousands of fishersfolks is at stake. We urge you to shut down this dirty project now.

Signed,

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Ten of thousands of lives are at stake in Mundra, India. Tata Mundra coal plant, financed by the World Bank, is destroying these people's only source of livelihood -- fishing.

Their traditional route between the shore and the market has been blocked, fish catch has been deeply compromised, and coal dust is making their food toxic -- and it is also dramatically affecting their health.

Based on complaints from the fisher community, the World Bank's ombudsman department (CAO) did a scientific investigation of the project and confirmed what the people in Mundra already knew:

"CAO also finds that the International Finance Corporation (IFC, the private sector arm of World Bank Group) failed to ensure that its client’s (TATA Power) Environment & Safety assessments adequately considered the risks and impacts of the project on these fisher people. Inadequate consideration of the impact of the project on these in terms of the approach that was taken to consultation and disclosure (which was neither effective or timely)”.

That's right: the World Bank's own ombudsman concluded that the project were not in sync with its own sustainability policy, right from the time of planning and at every stage of its execution. It completely ignored the environmental and social risks of the community.

It has been more than 6 months since CAO came up with their report but despite these findings, neither the World Bank nor TATA Power had made any concrete efforts to undo the wrong done in past.

Let's not delay justice any longer to the fisherfolk in Mundra. The World Bank must now: